The newly crowned WBC 154-lb. champion talked a lot of smack about MMA leading up to his fight with Oscar De La Hoya.

But UFC president Dana White, Zuffa LLC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, and Sherk, the UFC's 155-lb. champ, showed up at the MGM Grand looking to give Mayweather the chance to put his money where his mouth was.

And the Pretty Boy changed his tune. According to the Web site FightNews.com, Mayweather, using former Nevada State Athletic Commission chairman and current UFC employee Marc Ratner as an intermediary, signaled he wanted to make peace with the UFC.

"I apologize to the UFC, sometimes we say things that we shouldn't have said and I'm man enough to admit that," said Mayweather. "I apologize to the Fertittas, Lorenzo and Dana White. I respect MMA fighters and what they do in the UFC. I have no plans of fighting in mixed martial arts."

While Mayweather left the MGM Grand a winner last week, it appears the sport of mixed martial arts was the biggest beneficiary of last week's hype.

The bulk of the coverage leading up to the Mayweather-DeLaHoya fight prominently mentioned MMA's encroachment on the boxing market.

True, some of the coverage was lowlighted by tired clichés from the usual suspects, but the joke is on them. It became painfully clear last week the only people left who still cling to "these are just bar brawlers" nonsense are: 1. Old-school boxing types, who are understandably protective of their favorite sport; 2. Journalists who are completely out to lunch on the topic; 3. Attention seekers in various media platforms who are simply out to get a reaction.

There has been a shift in sports fan opinion on combat sports. The average fan now understands that top-notch MMA fighters have athletic credentials that match those of the top athletes in any sport, even if some in the media still don't get it.

Saturday night's fight card was a case study in why MMA is succeeding where boxing isn't.

The main event was a good, but not great, technical fight. But the real telling aspect was in the second fight from top. A pair of featherweights that your average sports fan couldn't name to save their lives, Rocky Juarez and Jose Hernandez, slow danced for 12 rounds before Juarez took the decision.

Half the crowd at the MGM Grand hadn't arrived yet. The half that was there never at any point indicated they had the slightest interest in the match. HBO signaled its disinterest in its own second-billed attraction by running a long, rambling interview with Larry Merchant and Floyd Mayweather Sr. during the fight.

Viewers paid $54.95 for that?

Contrast the Juarez-Hernandez scene to UFC 68 in Columbus on March 3, where all 19,000 fans at Nationwide Arena were in their seats in time for the opening, non-televised preliminary fight, and stayed with the action for four hours, through all nine matches. Or UFC 65 at Arco Arena in Sacramento last November, where the sellout crowd of more than 15,000 popped for the transitional ground work as much as the KO kicks.

The question that remains unanswered: What would happen if Mayweather did tangle with Sherk?

No one is questioning what would happen if they met in a boxing ring under boxing rules. Sherk's background is amateur wrestling. Even the most complete MMA fighter isn't spending any more than 25 percent of his time on his boxing game. Mayweather would own Sherk under boxing rules.

Under MMA rules? Well, for one thing, Mayweather's track-meet style wouldn’t win him points in the UFC. Among MMA scoring criteria, judges are supposed to base their decisions on aggression and octagon control. For another, there is the sheer difference between a ring and a cage. There are no rope breaks to be had in MMA. If you get cornered and taken down, you have to fight your way out. That's not Mayweather's style.

There have already been a couple glimpses at what would be considered boxer vs. martial arts style fighting, and neither made boxing look good.

One occurred all the way back at UFC 1 in 1993. Art Jimmerson was a light heavyweight with a solid record of 29-5 when he squared off against Royce Gracie. Gracie needed all of 2:11 to pick Jimmerson apart. From that point on, Jimmerson went 4-13 in his boxing career. Word got around boxing quick to stay away from UFC.

OK, maybe Jimmerson isn't a big enough name to impress you. How about Muhammud Ali, then?

Back in 1976, Ali took on wrestler Antonio Inoki in Tokyo. They went 15 rounds before the fight was ruled a draw. Inoki spent most of the fight on his back in a basic jiu-jitsu defensive posture and repeatedly kicked at Ali's legs. Ali's punching was useless, as he threw just six punches the entire fight.

It was a dreadfully boring exhibition by all accounts. But no less an authority than Thomas Hauser reported in his definitive biography Ali that Inoki did so much damage to Ali's legs, that Ali had to be hospitalized with blood clots and extensive muscle disrepair. Promoter Bob Arum went on to speculate the beating helped speed up Ali's in-ring decline.

So there you have it. Three decades before MMA stole boxing's thunder and 17 years before Gracie burst onto the scene, the greatest boxer of all-time could do nothing against a professional wrestler who used defensive martial arts tactics that were primitive by the standards of today's MMA.

Maybe Mayweather knew what he was doing, backing off from his trash talk against UFC.

Quote: You have demonstrated that , presently, you don't have a lot of proof for or against your claim. So there is little point in furthering it until you get some.

Actually, I think the most important stat I can state is simply the magnitude of potential is so much higher in Pro Football, it would be extraordinary that a small population of athletes found in MMA would produce the same caliber, mathematically it would be like winning the lotto.

But we have done this dance long enough, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, there are currently several washed up athletes trying to compete in the MMA, most of them have very limited training, certainly not years of study.